


Embrace

by HeartlessAngel



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 00:25:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12852747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartlessAngel/pseuds/HeartlessAngel
Summary: Gladio's hugs brings Noctis back.





	Embrace

* * *

The discovery had been made by mistake. Prince and Shield had to be coordinated in battle, they had to practice each move until it was all on instinct. During such an exercise, one of the first, Gladio grabbed Noctis by his arm and spun him around into the safety of his embrace when fake glass rained upon them.

Noctis had known hugs. Before his mind broke and became a point of horror for those around him, he had been a huggable child, one that was persistent in his demand for affection, like a cat. But he was fragile to the world now, so much so that even his father avoided to be near him.

Gladio didn’t seem to mind. When Noctis withdrew from battle, chin quivering and eyes full of tears with frustration at himself, Gladio would flop down next to him.

“Cry if you wanna cry,” he’d say. “You’ll feel better after. And it’s easier to see where the sword’s going when you don’t have tears in the way.”

“What about you?” Noctis would ask. What would Gladio do at seeing him break down? What would it do to his image of the Crown Prince? A burden in the place of a solution, another worry for the King who was ridden with issues to solve already.

“Don’t stew in it, Noct. If you have stuff to feel, things to say, do it. Be honest. With you. With me. I can handle it.”

It was then that Noctis came to know another safety in Gladio’s embrace, one born out of kindness, empathy, not merely necessity in the heat of battle. Noctis liked both because both granted him comfort in distressing situations. It was safe to ask for it and show a need for it.

As they grew up, the need became greater still. Those moments of sadness, when the damage done to him reared its ugly head, lingered for longer periods of time. Acknowledging it was like staring at the sun, he could only do it for so long before he had to cover his eyes and seek the comfort of darkness and solitude.

Gladio was there for those episodes, too, reaching out to him, learning through trial and error the ways which to make Noctis respond and find ways out of the holes he dug for himself. And as Noctis emerged, Gladio remained there, at his side, arms held wide for a hug Noctis wanted more than anything else.

This darkness that had been with him since Tenebrae had a peculiar way of convincing him that he wasn’t real. It had created a discrepancy between his body and whatever he was, and in those cracks, he fell, certain there was no way out, but in Gladio’s arms he found himself. His body materialized into the reality that so easily ejected him into a realm of no man’s land. And as Gladio spoke to him, whispered tales both true and made up, Noctis’ soul settled back into his body, numbness dissolving as every dark emotion made itself known until he could cry again.

 


End file.
